The present disclosure generally relates to articles prepared from thermoplastic compositions, and more particularly, to components, including transparent components, prepared from thermoplastic compositions and which are exposed to a constant pressure during use.
Thermoplastic resins are increasingly being considered to replace metal in applications that expose a component to a constant pressure during the component's operational life. Examples of components subjected to such constant pressure include, for example, pressure vessels.
One mechanism that can cause the failure of these resins is creep rupture. Accordingly, components for pressurized applications, such as components molded in styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN), are designed for a limited operational life, and/or employ thick walls to reduce stress and improve time to failure. Typically, however, many components for pressurized applications are still made of metal. Although metal components are useful, the metallic construction can add additional weight to the components and also does not allow view of any internal contents.